The Mind very often fets itself to work in fearch of fome hidden Idea, and turns, as it were, the eye of the foul upon it; though fometimes too they start up in our minds, of their own accord, and offer themselves to the Understanding; and very often are rouzed and tumbled out of their dark cells, into open daylight, by fome turbulent and tempeftuous paffion; our Affections bringing Ideas to our memory, which had otherwife lain quite and unregarded. This farther is to be observed, concerning Ideas lodged in the Memory, and upon occafion revived by the Mind, that they are not only (as the word revive imports) none of them new ones; but also that the mind takes notice of them, as of a former impreffion, and renews its acquaintance with them, as with Ideas it had known before. So that though Ideas formerly imprinted, are not all conftantly in view, yet in remembrance they are conftantly known to be fuch, as have been formerly imprinted, i. e. in view, and taken notice of before by the Underftanding, "Sect. 8. Memory, in an intellectual creature, is neceffary in the next degree to Perception. It is of fe great moment, that where it is wanting, all the reft of our faculties are in a great measure ufelefs: and we, in our thoughts, reafonings, and knowledge, could not proceed beyond present objects, were it not for the affifiance of our memories, wherein there may be two defects. First, That it lofes the Idea quite, and fo far it produces perfect ignorance. For fince we can know nothing farther than we have the Idea of it, when that is gone, we are in perfect Ignorance. Secondly, That it moves flowly, and retrieves not the Ideas, that it has, and are laid up in store, quick enough to ferve the mind upon occafions. This, if it be to a great degree, is Stupidity; and he, who through this default in his memory, has not the Ideas, that are really preferved there, ready at hand, when need and occafion calls for them, had almoft VOL. V. A a as as good be without them quite, fince they serve him to little purpose. The dull man, who lofes the opportunity, whilst he is feeking in his mind for those Ideas, that should serve his turn, is not much more happy in his knowledge, than one that is perfectly ignorant. It is the bufinefs therefore of the Memory to furnish to the Mind thofe dormant Ideas, which it has present occasion for, in the having them ready at hand on all occafions, confifs that which we call Invention, Fancy, and quickness of parts. "Sect. g. These are defects, we may observe, in the me mory of one man compared with another. There is another defect, which we may conceive to be in the memory of men in general, compared with fome fuperior created intellectual beings, which in this faculty may fo far excel man, that they may have conftantly in view the whole fenfe of all their for mer actions, wherein no one of the thoughts they have ever had, may flip out of their fight. The Omnifcience of God, who knows all things paft, prefent, and to come, and to whom the thoughts of men's hearts always lie open, may fatisfy us of the poffibility of this. For who can doubt, but God may communicate to those glorious spirits, his immediate attendants, any of his perfections, in what proportion he pleases, as far as created, finite beings can be capable. It is reported of that progidy of parts, Monfieur Pafcal, that, till the decay of his health had impaired his memory, he forgot nothing of what he had done, read, or thought in any part of his rational age. This is a privilege fo little known to moft men, that it feems almoft incredible to thofe, who after the ordinary way, measure all others by themselves: but yet when confidered, may help us to enlarge our thoughts towards greater perfections of it in fuperior ranks of fpirits. For this of Mr. Pascal was fill with the narrownels, that human minds are confined to here, of having great variety of Ideas only by fucceffion, not all at once: whereas the feveral degrees of angels may probably have larger views, and fome of them be endowed with сара capacities able to retain together, and conftantly fet before 8. The Operations of the Mind are more accurately divided by Ariftotle, than by Mr. Locke. They are three and no more: Simple Apprehenfion, Judgment and Difcourfe. It feems Mr. Locke only gives a New Name to Simple Apprehenfion, terming it Perception. Of Judgment and Reafon he speaks in the fourth Book. Difcerning, Comparing, Compounding, Abstracting, are Species of Judgment. or Memory refers to them all. [To be continued.] Retention On the ORIGIN of the SouL. [Concluded from page 146.] 6. MOSES informs us, fallen Adam begat a fon in his own likeness, and after his image: but had he gcnerated a body without a foul, he would not have begotten a fon in his own likeness, fince he was not a mere mortal body, but a fallen, embodied fpirit. Compare Gen. v. 3, with lvi. 26. "But upon this fcheme, will objectors fay, if Adam was converted when he begat a fon, he begat a converted foul." This does by no means follow; for if he was born of God after his fall, it was by grace, through Faith, and not by nature, through generation: he could not therefore communieate his fpiritual regeneration, by natural generation, any more A a 2 than 1 than a great scholar can propagate his learning together with his fpecies. Should it be again objected, that "The foul is not generated, because the fcriptures declare,, The Lord is the Father of the fpirits of all flesh, and the Spirit returns to God who gave it:" I answer, It is alfo written, that Job and David were fearfully made and fashioned by the hands of God in the. womb; that he formed Jeremiah in the belly; and that we are the offspring of him who made of one blood all nations of men. Now if the latter fcriptures do not exclude the interpofition of parents, in the formation of their children's bodies; by what rule of criticifm or divinity can we prove, that the former exclude that interpofition in the production of their Jouls? Nor can materialifts, who have no ideas of generation, but fuch as are grofs and carnal, like their own system, with any fhadow of reafon infer, that "If the foul is generated with the body, it will also perish with it:" for dissolution is fo far from a neceffary confequence of the fpiritual generation of fouls, that it would not fo much as have followed the generation of our bodies, if Adam had not brought fin into the world, and DEATH by fin.Again, if wheat, a material feed, which grows out of the fame earthly clod with the chaff that enclofes it, can fubfift unimpaired when that mean cover is destroyed: how much more can the foul (that fpiritual, vital, heavenly power, which is of nature fo vaftly fuperior to the body in which it is confined,) continue to exift, when flesh and blood are returned to their native duft! Should fome perfons reject what I fay of the traduction of fouls, in order to illuftrate the derivation of original fin: and fhould they fay that they have no more idea of the generation, than honeft Nichodemus had of the regeneration of a fpirit: I beg leave to obferve two things: First, If fuch objectors are converted, they will not deny the regeneration of fouls by the Spirit of God, fince they experience it; and our Lord fpeaks of it as a blessed reality, even while he reprefents it as a mystery unknown, as to the manner of it, John iii. 8-13. Now if pious fouls have been regenerated from the beginning of the world, without exactly knowing how; is it reafonable to deny that fouls are generated, merely because we cannot exactly account for the manner in which that wonder takes place? Secondly, Should my objectors be verfed in Natural Philofophy, they need not be told that even the kind of generation, which they allow, is as much a mystery to man, as the movement of a watch is to a child, that just sees the cafe and glass. If they will not believe me, let them believe him, who gave his heart to fearch out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven; and who, touching upon our question, fays; as thou knoweft not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even fo thou knoweft not the works of God that maketh all. Eccl. xi. 5. For my part, I do not fee, why the fame almighty Preferver of men, who (as St. Paul tells us) made of ONE BLOOD the bodies of all nations of men, might not of one ACTIVE THOUGHT and ARDENT DESIRE, have made the fouls of all nations of men alfo. Have not thoughts and defire as great affinity to the nature of the foul, as blood has to that of the body? And confequently are not our ideas of the traduction of the foul, as clear as those, which we are able to form of the generation of the body? 4 DISAVOWAL of PERSECUTING PAPISTS, [By the Rev. Mr. Wesley.] I Have read a tract lately fent me, and will now give my free thoughts upon the subject. |